Infinity is a
Eurodance
Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. Thi ...
band from
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
that formed in the late 1990s. Its current members are Kjell Gabriel Henriksen from
Asker
Asker ( no, Asker), properly called Askerbygda in Norwegian, is a district and former municipality in Akershus, Norway. From 2020 it is part of the larger administrative municipality Asker, Viken (also known as Greater Asker) in Viken count ...
and Birgitte Moe from
Bærum
Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electora ...
.
History
Infinity was formed in 1995 as ''Barbie-Q'', consisting of three rappers and a singer. Birgitte Moe (born in 1975) was working as cashier for a bakery at
Sandvika Storsenter
Sandvika Storsenter is a super-regional mall located in Sandvika outside of Oslo, Norway. It is owned by the Olav Thon Group () which in turn is owned by the Olav Thon Foundation ().
The mall opened October 14, 1993, and was then 24,000 square ...
and Kjell Gabriel Henriksen (born Kjell-Gabriel Eikli Hendrichs in 1974) was working in a record store in the same shopping mall. They met in the bakery and started to talk. Birgitte had already been to audition for another Norwegian band Devotion and asked Kjell if she could sing for his band. After Birgitte joined the band, they changed their name to ''Infinity'' to avoid rights issues.
In 1998 Infinity consisted of Kjell Gabriel Henriksen, Birgitte Moe and Egil Marius Storstein (born 1969). Their first single “Happy” was released on 11 May 1998 and peaked at number two on
VG-lista
VG-lista is a Norwegian record chart
A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts ...
. It was followed by “Feeling Good” and “Makin’ Out”, both released later in 1998. Infinity released their first album, ''www.happy-people.net'', on 25 January 1999 with a corresponding website (now offline). The single “This Time It’s For Real” (February 1999) was the last single to be released from their debut album and the first that did not chart. “Come on and Dance” (1999) was released as a promo single only. Egil Marius Storstein left the band in 2000, reducing the number of members to just two. Two singles, “Boys & Girls” (May 2000) and “1-2-3-4” (May 2001), of which neither charted followed. A new album called ''www.sporty-people.net'' were planned and a corresponding website was created. However, the album was never released and the recently released singles have yet to appear on an album.
During the spring 2001 Infinity switched record label to MTG. The promo singles “Naked in the Rain” and “Can You Hear” were released, shortly followed by the regular single “
Sleeping My Day Away”, the band's first-ever cover. Their second album, ''Naked in the Rain'' was released on 19 October 2001. “Can You Hear” was re-released as a regular single in 2002 with the same track list, then called “Hear Me Out”. It peaked at number twelve on VG-lista and featured radio and extended versions of both “Can You Hear” and “Hear Me Out”. According to Infinity's now offline website “Can You Hear” is just another version of “Hear Me Out” and only the latter showed up on the album. In May 2003 Infinity recorded the track “Pink Panther” for a local “
russebuss” with the same name. Yet another two promo singles, ”L.O.V.E.” and ”One More Chance (Na Na Na)”, were released later in 2003.
Infinity announced their comeback in 2007 and on Saturday, January 20, 2007, Infinity participated in the semi-final of the Norwegian national
Eurovision Song Contest (
Melodi Grand Prix
Melodi Grand Prix (), commonly known as Grand Prix and MGP, sometimes as Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix ( no, Norsk Melodi Grand Prix), is an annual music competition organised by Norwegian public broadcaster Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK). It det ...
) with the song "Hooked on You", winning one of two spots from the semi-final in
Alta for the Norwegian final in February. They were not selected as Norway's entry in Eurovision Song Contest. In an interview with
Budstikka prior to the national final Infinity told that they had planned a comeback for a long time and that there were still a lot of cool songs waiting to be released, but except for a re-release of their 1998 single ''Happy'' in 2010 they have not released any new material since ''Hooked on You''. However, the band is still active and is currently participating in the We Love the 90's tour in Norway along with other 90's groups, including
Reset. In 2009 ''www.happy-people.net'' was released digitally for its 10th anniversary, featuring six bonus tracks that were not present on the original release. It is still the best-selling dance album in Norway.
Infinity-jubileum på Onkel Blaa – Budstikka
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Discography
Studio albums
Singles
For their participation in Melodi Grand Prix 2007. A CD with all songs in this show was released, including ''Hooked on You''. It also appeared on the compilation album “Hits For Kids 17”, which is part of a series of compilation albums featuring popular music (like Now That's What I Call Music!
''Now That's What I Call Music!'' (often shortened to ''Now!'') is a series of various artists compilation albums released in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Sony Music and Universal Music (Universal/Sony Music) which began in 1983. Spinoff ...
) mixed with more child-friendly music (such as Melodi Grand Prix Junior
Melodi Grand Prix Junior, also spelled as MGPjr, is a Norwegian television song competition for aspiring singers between the ages of 8 and 15. The competing songs are written by the participants themselves and are sung primarily in Norwegian, an ...
songs). However, ''Hooked on You'' was not released as an independent single.
References
External links
Infinity
a
The Eurodance Encyclopaedia
{{Authority control
Norwegian electronic music groups
Norwegian pop music groups
Norwegian Eurodance groups
Melodi Grand Prix contestants
Musical groups established in 1997
1997 establishments in Norway
Musical groups from Oslo